Feedback channel release

ABSTRACT

Briefly, in accordance with one or more embodiments, a communication link is established between a base station and a mobile station. The base station transmits a feedback allocation to the mobile station for the allocation of the resources of a feedback channel. If the feedback allocation is to be terminated, the base station transmits a feedback deallocation to the mobile station. If the feedback deallocation is successful, the mobile station transmits a deallocation confirmation to the base station to confirm receipt of the feedback deallocation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Application No.61/173,204 filed Apr. 28, 2009 in the name of inventors Yuan Zhu et al.Said Application No. 61/173,204 is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

In wireless mobile broadband communication systems, uplink feedbackchannel may be used to assist closed loop operation. For example, insystems compliant with an Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 802.16m standard, two kinds of feedback channels aredefined to assist closed loop multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO)operations. One type of channel is referred to as a primary fastfeedback channel, and the other type of channel is referred to as asecondary fast feedback channel. The primary fast feedback channelutilizes sequence modulation to convey 4-6 bits in a 6×6 uplink controldistributed resource unit (DRU). The secondary fast feedback channelutilizes coherent detection to convey 7-24 bits in a 6×6 DRU. Theprimary fast feedback channel is more robust than the secondary fastfeedback channel, but on the other hand the secondary fast feedbackchannel has higher throughput than the primary fast feedback channel. Afeedback advanced map (A-MAP) allocation information element (IE) isutilized to allocate and deallocate a feedback channel for a specificmobile station (MS). In the case wherein a periodical allocation isimplemented, the base station (BS) specifies a transmission period and atransmit duration. With limited signaling bit length, the transmitduration is normally represented exponentially such as 4^(p) periods. If3 bits are used to represent p, then the transmit duration may be from 1period to 16384 frames.

Deallocation may be involved if the base station sees there is no needfor the mobile station to transmit feedback according to previousallocation. An example scenario is when a user canceled downloading alarge sized file. If the allocation is very long, and there is a 1%chance the mobile stations might miss the deallocation A-MAP IE, thereis a chance that the mobile station will continue transmitting on thedeallocated feedback channels without this being known by the basestation. In such a situation, unnecessary interference may be generatedand causing collisions in the deallocated feedback channel. From theperspective of the base station, the lost deallocation A-MAP IE may bedetected with collision detection on the deallocated feedback channel.However, this relies on a smart base station implementation, and thedetection reliability needs to be guaranteed for multiple periods. In aworst case scenario, the base station may not perform collisiondetection, and the mobile station will continue sending on a deallocatedfeedback channel until the expiration of the allocation period.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Claimed subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctlyclaimed in the concluding portion of the specification. However, suchsubject matter may be understood by reference to the following detaileddescription when read with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a channel feedback system capable ofimplementing feedback channel release for a wireless network inaccordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wireless wide area network utilizing achannel feedback system in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a feedback deallocation releaseconfirmation procedure in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for implementing feedback channelrelease in accordance with one or more embodiments; and

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an information handling system capable ofimplementing feedback channel release in accordance with one or moreembodiments.

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and/or clarity ofillustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarilybeen drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elementsmay be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, ifconsidered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among thefigures to indicate corresponding and/or analogous elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subject matter.However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that claimedsubject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known methods, procedures, components and/or circuitshave not been described in detail.

In the following description and/or claims, the terms coupled and/orconnected, along with their derivatives, may be used. In particularembodiments, connected may be used to indicate that two or more elementsare in direct physical and/or electrical contact with each other.Coupled may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical and/orelectrical contact. However, coupled may also mean that two or moreelements may not be in direct contact with each other, but yet may stillcooperate and/or interact with each other. For example, “coupled” maymean that two or more elements do not contact each other but areindirectly joined together via another element or intermediate elements.Finally, the terms “on,” “overlying,” and “over” may be used in thefollowing description and claims. “On,” “overlying,” and “over” may beused to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physicalcontact with each other. However, “over” may also mean that two or moreelements are not in direct contact with each other. For example, “over”may mean that one element is above another element but not contact eachother and may have another element or elements in between the twoelements. Furthermore, the term “and/or” may mean “and”, it may mean“or”, it may mean “exclusive-or”, it may mean “one”, it may mean “some,but not all”, it may mean “neither”, and/or it may mean “both”, althoughthe scope of claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. Inthe following description and/or claims, the terms “comprise” and“include,” along with their derivatives, may be used and are intended assynonyms for each other.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a channel feedback systemfor a wireless network capable of implementing feedback channel releasein accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. As shownin FIG. 1, a channel feedback system 100 may comprise a base station 110having one or more antennas 112 communicating with a mobile station 114having one or more antennas 116. In one or more embodiments, basestation 110 may transmit data packets via a downlink (DL) channel 118 tomobile station 114. Feedback may be provided from mobile station 114 tobase station 110 in a feedback arrangement comprising a two-leveladaptive feedback framework comprising a primary uplink (UL) fastfeedback channel 120 and a secondary uplink fast feedback channel 122.Primary UL feedback channel 120 may provide wideband channel qualityindicator (CQI) reports with robust data rate from mobile station 114 totransmitter regarding downlink channel 118. Secondary UL feedbackchannel 122 may provide sub-band CQI reports from mobile station 114 tobase station 110 using an adaptive transmission rate. Secondary UL fastfeedback channel 122 may utilize link adaptation with event-driventransmission in order to enhance the transmission efficiency with areduced overhead. Such a two-channel feedback system 100 as shown inFIG. 1 provides flexibility for an independent fast feedback channeldesign in order to optimize the performance of each channel. Forexample, the two-channel feedback system may achieve an optimal or anearly optimal performance under different permutation modes, althoughthe scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect.

In one or more embodiments, primary UL feedback channel 120 may bereferred to as a primary CQI channel (PCQICH) and secondary feedbackchannel 122 may be referred to as a secondary CQI channel (SCQICH).Optimized Bose and Ray-Chaudhuri (BCH) codes may be utilized used forboth primary (PCQICH) fast feedback channel 120 and/or secondary(SCQICH) fast feedback channel 122 having a relatively simplified designand reduced complexity in order to fit the feedback information intodifferent tile sizes. In one or more embodiments, primary fast feedbackchannel 120 may utilize semi-orthogonal sequences, for example of length12, to support up to 6 information bits with optimized performance, andfurthermore may utilize larger diversity order. Mobile station 114 mayutilize a non-coherent design to support fast feedback channeltransmission with non-coherent detection in high speeds such as whenspeed is larger than 120 kilometers per hour (kmph), although the scopeof the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect.

In one or more embodiments, primary CQI channel 120 may support lowerrate, less frequent, periodic CQI feedback transmission from mobilestation 114 to base station 110. Primary CQI channel 120 may transmitaverage CQI and/or multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) feedbackinformation and to provide reliable basic connections from mobilestation 114 to base station 110. Primary CQI channel 120 may beavailable to all users who need to feedback CQI in the uplink. Forexample, the base station 110 may allocate resources for primary fastfeedback channel 120 and specify the feedback frequency based on thechannel variation characteristics for each individual user, referred toas a subscriber station or mobile station 114, embodied as mobilestation 114. The resource allocation information may be sent to themobile station 114 to regulate its CQI feedback behavior.

In one or more embodiments, the secondary fast feedback channel 122 maysupport more advanced features than the primary fast feedback channel120, for example multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO), fractionalfrequency reuse (FFR), frequency selective scheduling (FSS), and so on,with greater efficiency and is used when there is data to betransmitted. Furthermore, secondary fast feedback channel 122 mayprovide CQI feedback more frequently and/or with finer granularity thanprimary fast feedback channel 120. That is, secondary fast feedbackchannel 122 may support a higher payload feedback of narrow band CQI andMIMO feedback information, which may include MIMO effectivesignal-to-interference and noise ratio (SINR) per codeword, transmissionrank, and pre-coding matrix index (PMI), and so on, on demand, and thetransmission may be event driven. To ensure robust transmission whilemaximizing throughput of secondary fast feedback channel 122, linkadaptation may be utilized on secondary fast feedback channel 122, andwhich may be utilized based at least in part on user location and/orchannel condition to increase feedback efficiency. In such anarrangement, center users may take advantage of their relatively higherSINR and transmit CQIs at higher rates with an increased efficiency. Asa result, secondary fast feedback channel 122 may cover users withlocalized resource allocation via downlink channel 118 that involvesfeeding back more CQI to support features such as FSS, MIMO, and so on,while users with very poor channel quality may not achieve meaningfulgain feeding back more CQI using secondary fast feedback channel 122.Per a request from a subscriber station, the base station 110 may decidewhether to allocate secondary fast feedback channel 122, when toallocate secondary fast feedback channel 122, the amount of resourcesinvolved and the corresponding index, transmission frequency, rate, andso on, and relay such information to the mobile station 114. Furtherdetails of channel feedback system 100 are discussed, below. An examplenetwork implementing channel feedback system 100 is shown in anddescribed with respect to FIG. 2, below.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram of a wireless wide area networkutilizing a channel feedback system implementing feedback channelrelease in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. Asshown in FIG. 2, network 200 may be an internet protocol (IP) typenetwork comprising an internet 210 type network or the like that iscapable of supporting mobile wireless access and/or fixed wirelessaccess to internet 210. In one or more embodiments, network 200 may bein compliance with a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX) standard or future generations of WiMAX, and in one particularembodiment may be in compliance with an Institute for Electrical andElectronics Engineers 802.16m standard (IEEE 802.16m). In one or morealternative embodiments network 200 may be in compliance with a ThirdGeneration Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (3GPP LTE) or a 3GPP2Air Interface Evolution (3GPP2 AIE) standard. In general, network 200may comprise any type of orthogonal frequency division multiple access(OFDMA) based wireless network, and the scope of the claimed subjectmatter is not limited in these respects. As an example of mobilewireless access, access service network (ASN) 212 is capable of couplingwith base station (BS) 214 to provide wireless communication betweensubscriber station (SS) 216 and internet 210. Subscriber station 216 maycomprise a mobile type device or information handling system capable ofwirelessly communicating via network 200, for example a notebook typecomputer, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, or thelike. ASN 212 may implement profiles that are capable of defining themapping of network functions to one or more physical entities on network200. Base station 214 may comprise radio equipment to provideradio-frequency (RF) communication with subscriber station 216, and maycomprise, for example, the physical layer (PHY) and media access control(MAC) layer equipment in compliance with an IEEE 802.16m type standard.Base station 214 may further comprise an IP backplane to couple tointernet 210 via ASN 212, although the scope of the claimed subjectmatter is not limited in these respects.

Network 200 may further comprise a visited connectivity service network(CSN) 224 capable of providing one or more network functions includingbut not limited to proxy and/or relay type functions, for exampleauthentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) functions, dynamichost configuration protocol (DHCP) functions, or domain name servicecontrols or the like, domain gateways such as public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN) gateways or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) gateways,and/or internet protocol (IP) type server functions, or the like.However, these are merely example of the types of functions that arecapable of being provided by visited CSN or home CSN 226, and the scopeof the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. VisitedCSN 224 may be referred to as a visited CSN in the case for examplewhere visited CSN 224 is not part of the regular service provider ofsubscriber station 216, for example where subscriber station 216 isroaming away from its home CSN such as home CSN 226, or for examplewhere network 200 is part of the regular service provider of subscriberstation but where network 200 may be in another location or state thatis not the main or home location of subscriber station 216. In a fixedwireless arrangement, WiMAX type customer premises equipment (CPE) 222may be located in a home or business to provide home or businesscustomer broadband access to internet 210 via base station 220, ASN 218,and home CSN 226 in a manner similar to access by subscriber station 216via base station 214, ASN 212, and visited CSN 224, a difference beingthat WiMAX CPE 222 is generally disposed in a stationary location,although it may be moved to different locations as needed, whereassubscriber station may be utilized at one or more locations ifsubscriber station 216 is within range of base station 214 for example.In accordance with one or more embodiments, operation support system(OSS) 228 may be part of network 200 to provide management functions fornetwork 200 and to provide interfaces between functional entities ofnetwork 200. Network 200 of FIG. 2 is merely one type of wirelessnetwork showing a certain number of the components of network 200,however the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in theserespects.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a block diagram of a feedback deallocationrelease confirmation procedure in accordance with one or moreembodiments will be discussed. The arrangement shown in FIG. 3illustrates a general description of a feedback deallocationconfirmation procedure in accordance with one or more embodiments. Inone or more embodiments, base station 110 transmits a feedbackdeallocation advanced map (A-MAP) information element (IE) 310 to mobilestation 114, for example via downlink channel 118 as shown in FIG. 1.The deallocation A-MAP IE transmitted by base station 110 to mobilestation 114 directs mobile station 114 to deallocate utilization of thefeedback channels, for example primary uplink feedback channel 120and/or secondary uplink feedback channel 122 as shown in FIG. 1. Inresponse to receiving feedback deallocation A-MAP IE 310 from basestation 110, mobile station 114 confirms the receipt of the feedbackdeallocation A-MAP IE 310 by transmitting a deallocation confirmation312 to base station 110 so that base station 110 knows whether thefeedback channel has been properly deallocated. Thus, in one or moreembodiments, after sending a feedback deallocation A-MAP IE 310 tomobile station 114, base station 110 will expect to receive adeallocation conformation 312 from mobile station. In the event adeallocation confirmation 312 is received, the base station may thenreallocate the feedback channel to another mobile station. However, inthe event case no deallocation confirmation 312 is received by the basestation 110, the base station optionally may resend one or more feedbackdeallocation A-MAP IEs 310 until a deallocation confirmation 312 isreceived, or until a time out is reached.

In one or more embodiments, the deallocation confirmation 312 sent frommobile station 114 to base station 110 may be defined utilizing one codeword in the primary fast feedback channel 120. However, other specialformats for deallocation confirmation 312 may be utilized, and the scopeof the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. In one ormore embodiments, deallocation confirmation 312 may be send as one codeword in primary fast feedback channel 120 because primary fast feedbackchannel 120 is more robust than secondary fast feedback channel 122, andin one or more embodiments the deallocation confirmation 312 may be evenmore robust than a normal primary fast feedback channel transmissionbecause the detection of the deallocation confirmation 312 may simplyinvolve judging if the special deallocation confirmation 312 code wordis sent or if some other signal is sent.

An example system for feedback channel deallocation is shown in Table 1,below.

TABLE 1 Feedback Allocation A-MAP IE Syntax Size (bit) NotesFeedback_Allocation_A- — — MAP_IE( ) { A-MAP IE Type 4 FeedbackAllocation A-MAP IE Channel Index 6 Feedback channel index within theuplink (UL) fast feedback control resource region (Dependent onL_(FB,FPi) defined in IEEE 802.16m/D5 16.3.8.3.3.2) Short-term feedbackperiod 3 Feedback is transmitted on the feedback (p) channel (FBCH)every 2^(p) frames Long-term feedback Period 2 Long-term feedback istransmitted on the (q) FBCH every 2^(q) short-term feedbackopportunities. If q = 0b00, either the short-term or the long-termfeedback shall be reported by the advanced mobile station (AMS),depending on the feedback formats defined in IEEE 802.16m/D516.3.9.3.1.5 Frame_number 2 The AMS starts reporting at the frame whichnumber in the superframe is equal to Frame_number. If the current frameis specified, the AMS starts reporting in four frames. Frames arenumbered from 0 to 3 in the superframe. Multiple-input andmultiple-output (MIMO) feedback reported by an AMS in frame N pertainsto measurements performed at least up to frame N − 1. The first MIMOfeedback report following the Feedback Allocation A-MAP IE as per the“Frame_number” may contain invalid MIMO feedback information if the MIMOfeedback is sent in the frame immediately following the frame in whichthe Feedback Allocation A-MAP IE was received. Subframe index 3Indicates the UL advanced air interface (AAI) subframe index in the ULportion of the frame Allocation Duration (d) 3 An FBCH is transmitted onthe FBCH channels indexed by Channel Index for 8 × 2^(d) frames. If d =0b000, the FBCH is deallocated. If d = 0b111, the AMS reports until theadvanced base station (ABS) command for the AMS to stop. ACK allocationflag 1 Indicates if one hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedbackchannel is allocated to acknowledge the successful detection of this IE.if (ACK allocation flag == 0b1) {As shown in Table 1, the feedback allocation A-MAP IE arrangementincludes an acknowledgement (ACK) allocation flag for example asprovided in a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) type system. If theACK allocation flag is equal to 1, then a 6 bit HARQ feedback allocation(HFA) indicates the HARQ index. Mobile station 114 utilizes theindicated HARQ feedback channel to transmit the successful reception ofthe feedback deallocation A-MAP IE 312 to base station 110. An examplemethod for implementing feedback channel release is shown in anddescribed with respect to FIG. 4, below.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a flow diagram of a method for implementingfeedback channel release in accordance with one or more embodiments willbe discussed. Although FIG. 4 shows one example order of method 400,various other orders may likewise be implemented, including more orfewer blocks than shown in FIG. 4, and the scope of the claimed subjectmatter is not limited in these respects. As shown in FIG. 4, acommunication link may be established between the base station 110 and amobile station 114 at block 410. The base station 110 transmits afeedback allocation A-MAP IE 310 to the mobile station 114 at block 412to allocate a feedback channel to be utilized by the mobile station 114for various communication, for example to transmit a channel qualityindicator (CQI), for various hybrid automatic repeat request (HARM)messages, and/or for a other feedback transmissions to supportmultiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) communication. In one or moreembodiments, the mobile station 114 send feedback to base station 110 atblock 414 in primary fast feedback channel 120 and/or secondary fastfeedback channel 122 according to the feedback allocation A-MAP IE 310transmitted to the mobile station 114. In one or more embodiments, thefeedback allocation includes an allocation period during which mobilestation 114 may utilize the allocated feedback channel, such as ashort-term feedback period (p) or a long-term feedback period (q). Adetermination may be made at block 416 whether the feedback allocationshould be terminated, for example prior to the end of the allocatedfeedback period. If no determination is made to terminate theallocation, the mobile station 114 may continue to send feedback to thebase station 110 based on the feedback allocation. However, in the eventa determination is made that the feedback allocation should beterminated, the base station 110 transmits a feedback deallocation A-MAPIE 310 at block 418 to mobile station 114. In response to receiving thefeedback deallocation A-MAP IE 310, the mobile station 114 transmits adeallocation confirmation 312 at block 420 to base station 110. Adetermination may be made at block 422 if the deallocation confirmation312 is received by base station 110. If the base station 110 did notreceive the deallocation confirmation 312 from the mobile station 114,the base station 110 optionally may retransmit the feedback deallocationA-MAP IE 310 at block 418 one or more additional times, and/or mobilestation 114 optionally may retransmit the deallocation confirmation 312to base station 110 one or more additional times. In the event that basestation 110 receives the deallocation confirmation 422, or at the end ofa predetermined timeout period or a after predetermined number ofretransmissions, the base station 110 may reallocate the feedbackchannel resources to another mobile station at block 424. Method 400 maythen operate for feedback channel allocation and/or deallocation for theother mobile station.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a block diagram of an information handlingsystem capable of implementing feedback channel release in accordancewith one or more embodiments. Information handling system 500 of FIG. 5may tangibly embody one or more of any of the elements of channelfeedback system 100 as shown in and described with respect to FIG. 1,and/or any network element of network 200 of FIG. 2. For example,information handling system 500 may represent the hardware of basestation 110 and/or mobile station 114, with greater or fewer componentsdepending on the hardware specifications of the particular device ornetwork element. Although information handling system 500 represents oneexample of several types of computing platforms, information handlingsystem 500 may include more or fewer elements and/or differentarrangements of elements than shown in FIG. 5, and the scope of theclaimed subject matter is not limited in these respects.

Information handling system 500 may comprise one or more processors suchas processor 510 and/or processor 512, which may comprise one or moreprocessing cores. One or more of processor 510 and/or processor 512 maycouple to one or more memories 516 and/or 518 via memory bridge 514,which may be disposed external to processors 510 and/or 512, oralternatively at least partially disposed within one or more ofprocessors 510 and/or 512. Memory 516 and/or memory 518 may comprisevarious types of semiconductor based memory, for example volatile typememory and/or non-volatile type memory. Memory bridge 514 may couple toa graphics system 520 to drive a display device (not shown) coupled toinformation handling system 500.

Information handling system 500 may further comprise input/output (I/O)bridge 522 to couple to various types of I/O systems. I/O system 524 maycomprise, for example, a universal serial bus (USB) type system, an IEEE1394 type system, or the like, to couple one or more peripheral devicesto information handling system 500. Bus system 526 may comprise one ormore bus systems such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI)express type bus or the like, to connect one or more peripheral devicesto information handling system 500. A hard disk drive (HDD) controllersystem 528 may couple one or more hard disk drives or the like toinformation handling system, for example Serial ATA type drives or thelike, or alternatively a semiconductor based drive comprising flashmemory, phase change, and/or chalcogenide type memory or the like.Switch 530 may be utilized to couple one or more switched devices to I/Obridge 522, for example Gigabit Ethernet type devices or the like.Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, information handling system 500 mayinclude a radio-frequency (RF) block 532 comprising RF circuits anddevices for wireless communication with other wireless communicationdevices and/or via wireless networks such as channel feedback system 100of FIG. 1, for example where information handling system 500 embodiesbase station 110 and/or mobile station 114, although the scope of theclaimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. Furthermore, atleast some portion of base station 110 or mobile station 114 may beimplemented by processor 510, for example the digital functions of basestation 110 or mobile station 114 which may include processing of thebaseband and/or quadrature signals, although the scope of the claimedsubject matter is not limited in this respect.

Although the claimed subject matter has been described with a certaindegree of particularity, it should be recognized that elements thereofmay be altered by persons skilled in the art without departing from thespirit and/or scope of claimed subject matter. It is believed that thesubject matter pertaining to feedback channel release and/or many of itsattendant utilities will be understood by the forgoing description, andit will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form,construction and/or arrangement of the components thereof withoutdeparting from the scope and/or spirit of the claimed subject matter orwithout sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof, and/orfurther without providing substantial change thereto. It is theintention of the claims to encompass and/or include such changes.

1. A method, comprising: establishing a communication link with a mobilestation; transmitting a feedback allocation to the mobile station; ifthe feedback allocation is to be terminated, transmitting a feedbackdeallocation to the mobile station; and if the feedback deallocation issuccessful, receiving a deallocation confirmation from the mobilestation.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the feedbackallocation comprises a feedback allocation advanced map (A-MAP)information element (IE).
 3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein thefeedback deallocation comprises a feedback deallocation advanced map(A-MAP) information element (IE).
 4. A method as claimed in claim 1,wherein the feedback allocation comprises a short-term feedback periodor a long-term feedback period.
 5. A method as claimed in claim 1,wherein the feedback allocation comprises a predetermined period, andsaid transmitting a feedback deallocation to the mobile station occursif the feedback allocation is to be terminated prior to expiration ofthe predetermined period.
 6. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein thefeedback deallocation is transmitted one or more additional times in theevent a deallocation confirmation is not received from the mobilestation.
 7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the deallocationconfirmation is transmitted as a code word in a primary fast feedbackchannel.
 8. A method, comprising: establishing a communication link witha base station; receiving a feedback allocation from the base station;if the feedback allocation is to be terminated, receiving a feedbackdeallocation from the base station; and transmitting a deallocationconfirmation to the base station.
 9. A method as claimed in claim 8,wherein the feedback allocation comprises a feedback allocation advancedmap (A-MAP) information element (IE).
 10. A method as claimed in claim8, wherein the feedback deallocation comprises a feedback deallocationadvanced map (A-MAP) information element (IE).
 11. A method as claimedin claim 8, wherein the feedback allocation comprises a short-termfeedback period or a long-term feedback period.
 12. A method as claimedin claim 8, wherein the feedback allocation comprises a predeterminedperiod, and said receiving a feedback deallocation from the base stationoccurs if the feedback allocation is to be terminated prior toexpiration of the predetermined period.
 13. A method as claimed in claim8, wherein the deallocation confirmation is transmitted one or moreadditional times in the event one or more additional feedbackdeallocation messages are received from the base station.
 14. A methodas claimed in claim 8, wherein the deallocation confirmation comprises acode word in a primary fast feedback channel.
 15. A base station,comprising: a transceiver having an antenna coupled to the transceiver;and a processor couple to the transceiver, wherein the processor isconfigured to cause the transceiver to: establish a communication linkwith a mobile station; transmit a feedback allocation to the mobilestation; transmit a feedback deallocation to the mobile station if thefeedback allocation is to be terminated; and receive a deallocationconfirmation from the mobile station if the feedback deallocation issuccessful.
 16. A base station as claimed in claim 15, wherein thefeedback allocation comprises a predetermined period, and wherein theprocessor is further configured to cause the transceiver to transmit afeedback deallocation to the mobile station if the feedback allocationis to be terminated prior to expiration of the predetermined period. 17.A base station as claimed in claim 15, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to cause the transceiver to transmit the feedbackdeallocation one or more additional times in the event a deallocationconfirmation is not received from the mobile station.
 18. A base stationas claimed in claim 15, wherein the deallocation confirmation istransmitted as a code word in a primary fast feedback channel.
 19. Amobile station, comprising: a transceiver having an antenna coupled tothe transceiver; and a processor couple to the transceiver, wherein theprocessor is configured to cause the transceiver to: establish acommunication link with a base station; receive a feedback allocationfrom the base station; receive a feedback deallocation from the basestation if the feedback allocation is to be terminated; and transmit adeallocation confirmation to the base station.
 20. A method as claimedin claim 8, wherein the feedback allocation comprises a predeterminedperiod, and said receiving a feedback deallocation from the base stationoccurs if the feedback allocation is to be terminated prior toexpiration of the predetermined period.
 21. A method as claimed in claim8, wherein the deallocation confirmation is transmitted one or moreadditional times in the event one or more additional feedbackdeallocation messages are received from the base station.
 22. A methodas claimed in claim 8, wherein the deallocation confirmation comprises acode word in a primary fast feedback channel.
 23. An article ofmanufacture comprising a machine readable medium having instructionstored thereon that, if executed by a processor, result in: establishinga communication link with a mobile station; transmitting a feedbackallocation to the mobile station; if the feedback allocation is to beterminated, transmitting a feedback deallocation to the mobile station;and if the feedback deallocation is successful, receiving a deallocationconfirmation from the mobile station.
 24. An article of manufacture asclaimed in claim 23, wherein the feedback allocation comprises apredetermined period, and said transmitting a feedback deallocation tothe mobile station occurs if the feedback allocation is to be terminatedprior to expiration of the predetermined period.
 25. An article ofmanufacture as claimed in claim 23, wherein the feedback deallocation istransmitted one or more additional times in the event a deallocationconfirmation is not received from the mobile station.
 26. An article ofmanufacture as claimed in claim 23, wherein the deallocationconfirmation is transmitted as a code word in a primary fast feedbackchannel.
 27. An article of manufacture comprising a machine readablemedium having instruction stored thereon that, if executed by aprocessor, result in: establishing a communication link with a basestation; receiving a feedback allocation from the base station; if thefeedback allocation is to be terminated, receiving a feedbackdeallocation from the base station; and transmitting a deallocationconfirmation to the base station.
 28. An article of manufacture asclaimed in claim 27, wherein the feedback allocation comprises apredetermined period, and said receiving a feedback deallocation fromthe base station occurs if the feedback allocation is to be terminatedprior to expiration of the predetermined period.
 29. An article ofmanufacture as claimed in claim 27, wherein the deallocationconfirmation is transmitted one or more additional times in the eventone or more additional feedback deallocation messages are received fromthe base station.
 30. A method as claimed in claim 27, wherein thedeallocation confirmation comprises a code word in a primary fastfeedback channel.